Scalable ammonia/hydrogen marine internal combustion engine architecture

人们认识到，绿色航运革命对海运业来说是一场必要的翻天覆地的变革。这种从根本上改变传统的海洋发电方法的努力，正确地把重点放在了减少排放和提高效率上。然而，两个世纪以来，以化石燃料为基础的海洋能源在安全性、可靠性和基础设施方面取得了巨大进步，这些必须转化为绿色能源的世界。该项目将进行一项可行性研究，为2024年将氨气部分裂解为1.0兆瓦内燃机(ICE)的快速物理演示奠定基础，并在2025年推出海上原型。该系统将足够紧凑，可以集成到一艘船上，温室气体排放将优化到接近零。虽然该项目寻求实现必要的技术飞跃，以实现零排放，但它也将平衡这一点与水手应有的安全性、坚固性和可靠性，以及大规模生产、供应链和有限的自然资源的现实。氨是一种天然的零碳能源，用于取代当前的化石燃料：它自然地消除了使用点的碳和硫排放，并克服了氢的严重物理密度限制。由于每年有近20公吨氨在世界各地的港口例行处理，它作为一种散装商品的熟悉性使其能够适应并快速扩大和部署安全运行和维护的加油基础设施。然而，氨并不直接用作燃料：其点火时间长，火焰速度慢，因此在冰中燃烧具有挑战性。涉及化石燃料试点燃料的早期解决方案显示出希望，但仍会排放二氧化碳，因此还不足以实现净零排放。真正的零碳解决方案是将氨部分裂解成氨和氢的混合物，但目前可用的裂解解决方案对船舶来说过于繁琐，产生的氢气也不够纯，不能用于燃料电池。与ICE系统的集成可以与裂解系统产生进一步的协同效应，提供更高的系统效率。该项目将康明斯成熟的世界级电力系统能力、Sunborne Systems的尖端裂解反应堆研究、设计和演示能力与Ocean Infinity ARMADA舰队提供的平台结合在一起，这些平台从第一天起就设计和建造具有氨动力的能力。第一艘船已经下水，将于2022年底开始海试。

The green shipping revolution is recognised to be a necessary and seismic change to the marine industry. This drive to make fundamental changes to the traditional methods of marine power has rightly been focussed on reduction in emissions and increases in efficiency. However, two centuries of fossil fuel-based marine power has made huge steps in safety, reliability and infrastructure and these must be translated into the world of green power.The project will conduct a feasibility study to provide the grounding for a fast-paced physical demonstration of partial cracking of ammonia into an (1.0MW) Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) in 2024, with a seagoing prototype by 2025\. This system will be compact enough for integration in a ship, and GHG emissions will be optimised to near zero. Whilst this project seeks to make the necessary technological leap to zero emissions, it will also balance this with the safety, robustness and reliability deserved by mariners, and the realities of mass production, supply chains and limited natural resources.Ammonia is a natural zero-carbon energy source for displacing current fossil fuels: it naturally eliminates carbon and sulphur emissions at point of use and overcomes the serious physical density limitations of hydrogen. With nearly 20MT of ammonia routinely handled in ports around the world annually, its familiarity as a bulk commodity allows for adaptation and rapid scale-up and deployment of bunkering infrastructure that is safe to operate and maintain.However, ammonia is not straightforward to use as a fuel: its long ignition time and slow flame speed make it challenging to burn in ICEs. Early solutions involving fossil-fuel pilot fuels show promise, but still emit CO2, and therefore are not going far enough toward net zero. A truly zero-carbon solution is to partially crack the ammonia into a blend of ammonia and hydrogen, but currently available cracking solutions are too cumbersome for ships, and the hydrogen created is not pure enough for fuel cells. Integration with an ICE system can create further synergies with the cracking system, giving more system efficiency.The project brings together the proven world-class power systems capabilities of Cummins, the cutting-edge cracking reactor research, design and demonstration abilities of Sunborne Systems with the platform provided by the Ocean Infinity ARMADA fleet which are designed and built with capacity for ammonia power from day one. The first vessel is already in the water and will begin sea trials in late 2022\.